


Check Me Out Any Time

by jailikechai



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grocery Store, Falling In Love, Fluff, M/M, cashier!Dean, customer!cas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-14
Updated: 2015-05-14
Packaged: 2018-03-30 10:35:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3933544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jailikechai/pseuds/jailikechai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The man behind the register of checkout lane number three is the most gorgeous human being Castiel has ever laid eyes on, so naturally he can't manage to do anything more than pay for his groceries and run away. Fortunately, he has to come back and buy groceries every week.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Check Me Out Any Time

**Author's Note:**

> The first section is basically a blow-by-blow description of my interaction with the cute checkout girl at the drugstore a few days ago. How do you flirt with pretty cashiers? (Flirting advice accepted over at my [Tumblr](http://jailikechai.tumblr.com).)

Peanut butter, bread, cat food, toothpaste - Castiel runs over his mental grocery list, comparing it to the items in his basket. He hopes he’s not forgetting anything. He also threw in a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream and a jar of that special, organic raw honey with bits of comb still floating in the golden jelly, even though it is way outside of his budget. It’s worth the price, and hopefully he’ll have the willpower to make this jar last a bit longer than the last.

There’s only two checkout stations open and the lines are starting to grow longer and longer. Cas shifts his weight from foot to foot impatiently. He frowns at the nonsensical tabloid headlines proclaiming the latest CELEBRITY BABY SCANDAL and WEIGHTLOSS TIPS: GET YOUR BIKINI BODY TODAY! The line shifts forward and Castiel moves a step closer to the register. He looks up to see how many people are still in front of him - and catches a glimpse of the man behind the register in the process.

At first, his eyes flit over the man, as he counts two more customers before his turn to pay, but almost instantly his eyes snap back and he has to consciously will his mouth not to drop.

Holy shit.

The guy is tall, muscular under his red and grey uniform polo without being bulky, golden tan skin and tidy spikes of hair somewhere between brown and blond. Castiel would not be shocked if a talent agent popped up out of nowhere to whisk this man off for the start of his new modeling career.

The cashier looks up from the 2-litre of Coke he just slid across the scanner and smiles at the frazzled mom holding her credit card out for him to take.

Holy shit. He _smiles_. The smile reveals straight white teeth, crinkles up the corners of his eyes, and creates the barest hint of a possible dimple in his cheek. Castiel makes a little noise at the back of his throat that sounds absolutely nothing like a pitiful whimper.

Someone behind Castiel coughs quietly and Cas realizes that he is frozen in place, staring, and has been so for several minutes, a large gap opening in the line in front of him. His face heats up and he scrambles forward. He tries, he really does try, not to stare creepily at the cashier as he unloads his groceries onto the little conveyor belt. He fails miserably, his eyes continuously pulled back to the gorgeous man in front of him, but he’s trying.

Cas watches his jar of honey slide up away from him as the conveyor belt begins to move, coming to a stop in time for a large hand to grasp it and slide it across the scanner. Cas suddenly worries if his selection of items is too eclectic, he looks like some kind of weird cat hermit who lives on bread with peanut butter and honey. At least he has good oral hygiene. And the cashier doesn’t need to know that he’s going to eat that entire pint of ice cream by himself in one sitting.

The adonis behind the register looks up at him as Castiel steps cautiously forward, and their eyes meet. Castiel stops breathing.

Green, green, green, is the only thing his brain is processing right now. Spring green, forest green, emerald green, sage green. He can’t quite decide on the right shade to describe the man’s eyes. Cas is sure he’s never seen anything quite like them.

He realizes he staring like a creep again, and he tears his eyes away, looking down sheepishly. Castiel has been told many times by many different people that staring intensely at strangers creates a terrible first impression. When he glances back up, the man smiles again. At him.

“That’ll be 42.84,” the cashier says, his green eyes wandering over Castiel’s face. Cas’s face heats up again, and he hopes that he’s not turning red to match, as he hands over his debit card. The man takes it, and Cas catches a glimpse of his nametag as he swipes the card. Dean.

He is handed back his card along with a receipt, and the cashier - Dean - keeps throwing glances at Castiel’s face. Cas wonders for a brief heartbeat if he feels the same pull of attraction, before realizing that Dean is probably just trying to examine Castiel’s own unique, unusually colored eyes. It happens to him a lot, strangers trying to subtly determine if his deep blue eyes are natural. (They are.) Castiel’s heart sinks in his chest.

Dean hands his grocery bag over the counter and Cas grips the plastic handles. Their eyes meet.

“Thank you,” Dean says, his deep voice pleasant and not at all insincere, “have a great day.”

Castiel smiles at him, a real, genuine, wide gummy grin.

“Thank you,” he replies.

Cas takes his bag of groceries and walks away. Dean turns to help the next customer.

In the parking lot, Castiel slides behind the wheel of his car, dumping his groceries unceremoniously onto the passenger’s seat. He leans forward, smacking his forehead into the steering wheel, and groans loudly. He’s pretty sure that Dean just broke his brain, because the only thing he can think of now is that beautiful face smiling at him.

Cas wonders if it is too stalker-ish to rearrange his grocery shopping routine to coincide with the days that Dean works the register.

~~

Dean works on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons, and Saturday and Monday mornings. He has Sundays and Thursdays off.

On Wednesday night, Castiel stops by the grocery store after work and buys a frozen pizza, a bottle of wine, and another pint of ice cream. (Double chocolate chunk fudge swirl this time.) It’s been one of those days.

Castiel catches sight of Dean behind register three, and frantically looks for another open lane so the object of every fantasy he’s had lately won’t have to witness his shameful comfort-food-for-one purchases. Register three is the only one open, not another employee in sight. Castiel’s face feels like it’s burning by the time he makes it up to the front of the line.

Dean looks up at him and his face lights up in a brilliant smile.

“Hey, how’s it going,” Dean greets him, his voice low and easy.

Castiel’s heart flutters against his ribs. Maybe Dean remembers him? Probably not, he’s just being polite to another customer.

“Um. Fine, thank you,” Cas mumbles. He pays for his groceries and snatches the bag from Dean’s fingers, practically sprinting out of the store.

He drinks the entire bottle of wine as soon as he gets home.

~~

Castiel makes sure his grocery cart is stocked up with an impressive array of fruits and veggies as proof that he does not live off of honey, bread, frozen dinners, and ice cream. He does buy more honey, though. It’s just too irresistible.

Dean picks up the jar of honey after he scans it in, reading the label.

“Is this stuff really that good?” he asks, wrinkling his nose. Castiel stares at him blankly. Dean gestures with the jar. “How can you stand it with all the chunks like that?”

“It’s - it’s quite delicious,” Cas assures him. “I’m quite fond of it.”

“Yeah, I noticed you bought it last time, too,” Dean confesses. It’s hard to tell, but Castiel thinks that he might - might - even be blushing a little bit. It makes his freckles stand out more. Castiel’s face is definitely pink.

“Um. Yes. You should try it,” he blurts out boldly. Dean flashes that smile at him, and Castiel melts.

“Maybe I’ll do that sometime,” Dean agrees.

~~

“Have a good night, uh, Cas - Caste - Casteel,” Dean reads off the receipt.

“Castiel,” Cas corrects, with a shy smile. “You can stick with Cas, if you’d like.”

Dean grins at him gratefully.

“Sure, thing, Cas.” He waves at his nametag, sticking out his chest to display it proudly. “Dean.”

“Hello, Dean.”

~~

Castiel’s brother signs him up for Netflix. He learns very quickly exactly what his coworkers are talking about when they moan about “binge-watching” TV shows online. It’s around one a.m. and episode 15 on Friday night when Castiel realizes that he really, really needs some pork rinds, and he needs them right now. Fortunately, the grocery store is open 24-hours.

At first, Cas thinks that Dean is a hallucination brought on by sleep deprivation and too much sci-fi. But this Dean has dark circles under his eyes and a weary expression that Castiel’s unconscious could never imagine on him.

“Dean! You’re not usually here at this time,” Cas frowns, before realizing that normal customers don’t keep tabs on employee’s working hours. Dean shrugs, even his movements sluggish and tired.

“I had to pick up a couple of double shifts,” he explains. “It’s no big deal.”

Castiel wants to grab him by the shoulders and shout that yes, it is a big deal, then take Dean home and tuck him into bed to sleep for a few days.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Cas says instead. He fiddles with the pull of his hoodie’s zipper, and chances a smile in Dean’s direction. “I’m not sorry that I got to see you tonight, though.”

Dean manages to smile at that.

“Yeah, man, what’re you even doing in here this late? You don’t seem like the all-nighter type, I usually always see you all business-y in your suit and whatever.”

“I got Netflix,” Castiel moans, and Dean chuckles.

“Well, that explains your essentials, here,” Dean teases, holding up the large bag of pork rinds and six-pack of beer. “A binge-watcher after my own heart.”

Castiel flushes red. Dean finishes ringing him up. Castiel stands by register for another minute, playing with the flimsy plastic handles of his bag. The store is not deserted, but Dean stands alone in an otherwise empty sea of registers. Castiel hates to leave him there.

“I wish I could invite you to finish watching the season with me,” Cas thinks out loud with a sigh. Dean startles, regarding him silently, and Castiel calculates how awkward it will be if he sprints out of the store right now and where the next closest grocery store is.

“I’d like that, too,” Dean finally answers. He runs his fingers through his hair and blinks his big green eyes at Cas, his freckles standing out like constellations against his pink-tinged skin. “But, you know, feel free to come visit me here. Any time.”

Castiel’s heart expands a few sizes.

~~

Dean starts giving Cas recommendations for TV shows to watch on Netflix, and then eagerly asks about them when they see each other next. They have widely varying opinions on what makes a show ‘good’, and their discussions start holding up the checkout lines until Dean gets an embarrassing lecture from the store manager. Castiel starts making sure he comes in at times when the store isn’t busy.

At some point their conversation shifts from talking about TV shows to talking about Youtube parodies of TV shows, and Dean learns that Cas has never watched anything on Youtube.

“How can you never have seen a Youtube video,” Dean marvels, pausing in running a box of Corn Flakes across the scanner to stare at Castiel. “You must have internet if you can watch Netflix.”

“It’s never been of interest to me before,” Cas shrugs. Dean shakes his head.

“Dude.” He takes a quick glance at his watch. “Ok, I’m on break in about 10 minutes. Don’t go anywhere, ‘cause I’m gonna blow your mind.”

“But I have frozens,” Castiel says helplessly, looking over his groceries. Dean lets out a frustrated huff of air and looks around. He waves at a petite, red-headed girl in a matching store polo.

“Hey! Hey, Charlie! Can you take Cas here back to the break room and put his stuff in the fridge? He needs to stick around for a bit.”

Charlie looks Cas up and down, a grins spreading slowly across her face.

“Take him into the back to wait for you, huh? Sure thing,” she agrees eagerly, adding a little two-fingered salute towards Dean. Dean and Cas are both matching shades of beet red.

“So ya finally got the invitation to the break room,” Charlie comments as she helps Castiel carry his bags of groceries towards the back of the store. “Lucky duck.”

“I don’t think it’s like that,” Cas protests. Charlie just laughs at him.

Dean appears long before the promised ten minutes and flops onto the break room couch, pulling his phone out of his pocket and patting the empty space beside him.

“Alright, man, c’mere and prepare to be entertained,” Dean orders. Castiel seats himself gingerly at the edge of the seat, a healthy distance between him and Dean, craning his neck to peer at the small screen of Dean’s phone.

By the end of Dean’s half-hour break, Castiel’s right side is smooshed into Dean’s left as they giggle over someone’s Youtube interpretation of classic TV shows.

~~

“You gotta stop eating crap like this,” Dean admonishes, waving a box of frozen, pre-made burger patties in Castiel’s face. “I know you can’t cook, but at least go for some good take out, or something.”

“How do you know I can’t cook?” Castiel returns, trying to sound as offended as possible at the true statement.

“I see what you buy for groceries every week, man. Unless you’re shopping somewhere else, too, you’re not exactly cooking gourmet meals,” Dean says with a smile to soften the critique. Castiel still squirms in embarrassment. Dean considers him for a long moment. “You know what, go put this frozen crap back and I’m gonna get you a real burger.”

Castiel stares at the box of frozen burgers Dean holds out towards him.

“What?” he manages to say stupidly. Dean ducks his head, his shoulders slumping.

“Unless you don’t want to,” Dean mumbles.

“No! I mean, yes! I mean, I’d be happy to go eat a burger with you,” Cas stumbles through the words. “But, uh, now?”

“Uh, yeah, sure, if you’re up for it?” Dean’s hopeful smile is like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, and Castiel can practically feel its warmth on his skin.

“Oh! Yes, I am. But how-”

“Go put this back,” Dean cuts him off by thrusting the chilly box into Cas’s hands, “and then meet me back up here.”

Castiel obediently departs for the frozen foods aisle, wondering how Dean is going to manage running off for burgers in the middle of his double shift. When he gets back to the checkout area, Charlie is behind the register with an exasperated expression, and a beaming Dean is holding the rest of Castiel’s grocery bags near the exit.

“Oh, Charlie, I’m so sorry,” Castiel immediately apologizes, ignoring Dean’s attempts to wave him over using his weighted down arms. Charlie rolls her eyes.

“You’re good, I got you guys’ backs. Just freakin’ get laid and make it worth my while, ok?” she assures him, fluttering her hands to wave him in Dean’s direction. Castiel goes with only one more brief glance back at her, but she only waves her hands more insistently.

“C’mon, you don’t have any perishables in here, so let’s put all this in your car or something and get out of here,” Dean urges when Castiel draws closer.

Dean looks like he might either laugh or cry when he sees Castiel’s old Lincoln Continental, but manages not to say anything.

“I like it,” Cas shrugs as he places the groceries in the truck in response to Dean’s unspoken comment. Dean bites his lip and shakes his head. When he sees Dean’s car, he understands the reaction a little better. The gleaming classic Chevy is truly magnificent.

Dean drives them to a rundown old bar with no name that Dean just calls the Roadhouse and assures Cas that they make the best burgers in the city. Castiel agrees with an appreciative moan when he bites into his sandwich, a tiny bit of juice dribbling down his chin. Dean’s jaw goes slack as he watches Cas with wide eyes.

They sit for a long time, enjoying the delicious food and easy conversation. They talk about movies, and their jobs, and their families. They argue companionably and laugh at each others jokes.

“So, Cas,” Dean says long after their plates are empty and the bar’s owner is starting to shoot them irritated looks for squatting at a table so long, “want to do this again some time? Hang out, I mean. Not in the grocery store.” He taps his fingers in nervous rhythm against the table, his eyes darting around, not meeting Castiel’s. Cas’ heart is performing cartwheels across his ribs and it’s both uncomfortable and exhilarating.

“Like,” he swallows the anxious lump in his throat, “like a date?”

Dean nods. “Yeah. Like a date.”

“Yes,” Castiel says, maybe a little too loud since a few people seated at the surrounding tables turn to look.

“Ok. Good.”

Dean’s green eyes finally look into his, and they smile stupidly at each other.

~~

 _One Year Later_ :

People are giving the four men dressed up in formal suits strange looks as they troop into the grocery store.

“Produce? Really, guys?” Dean’s brother, Sam, asks when they turn towards that department.

“There’s more room than the canned goods aisle,” Castiel shrugs.

“And it smells better than seafood,” Dean adds with a grin.

The minister just follows along behind them, looking a little bored. The four of them gather around in an awkward little circle near a display of oranges, Dean and Castiel facing each other with the minister between them to one side, and Sam as witness off to the other. Dean and Cas stare at each other.

“Alright, then,” Dean says, “I guess we can just, uh, start?”

The minister nods, and clears his throat.

“We are gathered here to join in marriage Dean and Castiel,” the minister begins to drone.

Cas reaches out and takes Dean’s hands, holding them loosely between them and letting his eyes roam all over Dean’s face, just as magically handsome as it was when he first saw him, just a few yards from where they’re now standing. He still can’t decide exactly what shade of green Dean’s eyes are, so he sometimes he just calls them Dean-green, and Dean teases him back by calling Cas’ eyes Cas-blue.

Shoppers passing by pause and start to gather around them. Some look annoyed or even disgusted, but most wear delighted smiles when they realize what they’re witnessing. Dean’s face turns pink at the growing crowd, and it still makes the now-familiar constellations of freckles on his cheeks stand out.

“Do you, Dean, take Castiel to be your husband?”

“I do,” Dean says, his voice loud and clear and absolutely certain, his eyes shining.

“And do you, Castiel, take Dean to be your husband?”

“Yes,” Castiel says, feeling the word in bones as it rumbles through him, filling it with as much warmth and love and devotion as he can muster, “Yes, I do.”

“Then, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you married. You may kiss your husband,” the minister finishes.

Dean lunges forward to capture Castiel’s lips with his own, their kiss spoiled when neither one of them can stop smiling. The small crowd surrounding them cheers. Overhead the loudspeakers crackle.

“ _Hey folks_ ,” Charlie’s voice booms over the speakers, “ _I just want to congratulate Mister and Mister Winchester on finally getting hitched. They’re over in the produce department if you want to say hi to the newlyweds, but be warned they’re gross and in love. And don’t forget you guys owe me for all those shifts I covered for Dean so you could sneak out on dates_.”

The newlyweds roll their eyes. Dean wraps his arms around Cas’ waist and Cas slides his arms over Dean’s shoulders, and they pull each other close. Castiel presses his lips to Dean’s, determined to make this kiss count, but he only lasts a few seconds before he feels Dean’s lips curving into a smile against his and his own can’t help but follow. So they just stand there, arms wrapped around each other, grinning like the fools in love they are. Strangers drift towards and around them, offering warm congratulations, but Dean and Castiel see only each other.

“42.84,” Dean mumbles. Castiel tilts his head curiously. “That’s how much your groceries cost, the first time I met you.”

“You remember?” Cas gasps.

“‘Course I remember. You were probably the most gorgeous human being I ever laid eyes on and I thought I was gonna pop a boner right there behind the register,” Dean chuckles at the memory. “And you bought nothing but cat food and that weird honey, which was both bizarre and adorable.”

Castiel blushes.

“I bought more than that! And you like the honey,” he protests. Dean brushes their lips together in another brief kiss.

“Yeah, I like your weird honey,” he admits with a sigh.

“I’m glad you checked me out that day,” Castiel whispers into Dean’s ear, pleased when Dean shivers against him.

“I’ll check you out any time,” Dean answers, his voice low.

Their next kiss goes uninterrupted for a long time.

 


End file.
